


Day 6: The Failed Mission

by Mkayswritings



Series: Sheith Angst Week 2018 [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Day 6, Electrocution, Hallucinations, Heavy Angst, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) Whump, Loss of Trust, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Recovery, Rescue, Sleep Deprivation, Torture, Trust Issues, sheith angst week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-07-17 06:45:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16090238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mkayswritings/pseuds/Mkayswritings
Summary: Day 6 (August 31): Torture // Pilot ErrorBio: Keith was on assignment with the Blades before being discovered by one of the druids who ended up capturing him. They try to get intel from him by using unfriendly methods as Kolivan contacts the Castle to let them know about Keith. Rescue mission happens as Shiro finds him strapped to a table unconscious with a Druid over him. Fight ensues before they can escape with Keith to get him back home safely.when the usually strong whumpee is slowly and painfully broken down through torture and imprisonment, becoming a shell of their former selves and so they need to be slowly reintroduced to the idea that not everyone is out to hurt them, that they’re safe, and the learning curve of retrusting their friends againhallucinations/illusions of teamsleep deprivationDruids magic/electric, electric shock.





	Day 6: The Failed Mission

Silence loomed over Keith’s head as violet eyes glared at the door were hiding the ones who roamed the ship  with guards posted in front of the cell for the chance that he might get out. Hands rested above his head with the shackles that were pinning his back against the cold wall while the familiar purple glow stood over the former paladin. Keith didn’t know why they were holding him prisoner like this, but Haggar made it clear that she didn’t want him to escape. He was a valuable asset because of the knowledge that was held in his mind, knowledge about Voltron and the Blades. It was what the Galra needed since it could possible give them an advantage to gather any intel that they could get their hands on. Something that Keith wasn’t going to let happen though, he wasn’t going to give up anything about his family or the allies that they made along the way. Voltron and the coalition were too important, they needed to be protected. A plan of escape was needed first if the chance was given for him to escape, it wasn’t going to be easy because of the crew that littered the ship. If Red was here, it might of been easier, but Keith was on his own. No Blades, no Lions or another other allies were here to help him.

This was something that he needed to figure out on his own without gathering the attention of the soldiers that stood outside the door. Keith was weaponless since the blade had been taken away from him once he had been dragged to where Haggar was waiting. Her words were still fresh in his mind, words that continued to repeat themselves over and over again

_ “Hello Red Paladin, I hope that your cell has been comfortable for you. I do wonder what thoughts are running through that head of yours though, what information is hiding in there.” _

_ Keith was silent as he glared at Haggar despite the throbbing aches and pain he felt. It reminded him of the ones who ended up capturing him before an opportunity was given to escape back to the ship that was his way out of here. That obviously failed though _

_ “I won’t give you anything, you’re not getting anything from me.” _

_ A small smirk appeared across her face, it was unknown on what plans Haggar had for Keith, but he had a feeling that they weren’t going to be good ones. He didn’t want to sit around and wait to see what was going to happen, he had heard the rumors about her experiments. Shiro being an example of them _

_ “We’ll see about that, take him back to his cell for now. I must prepare for the interrogation.” _

_ Furious eyes continued to glare at Haggar before the raven got dragged off to his cell once again. The witch left the room afterwards to gather the other Druids to get the room prepared that would eventually become very familiar to Keith, she was determined to gather the intel that was running through his head. Intel that could be the downfall to Voltron and the allies that they made along the way. _

Pulling at the shackles once more, Keith was trying to come up with ways that possibly could help him escape this large ship. To escape before he would end up in the hands of the Druids and the terrible experiments that would be waiting for him. The shackles weren’t budging though, it was impossible to get out of them unless he had a weapon. His had been taken laying in a random room at the moment probably being examined by whoever’s hands it was in. It ended up in failure trying to figure out the pattern of any passing guards because of how thick the metal door was, he was also too far away to hear anything that could be said at all. Waiting was the only thing that could be done, something that Keith wasn’t interested in. He wasn’t going to sit here and fall prey to whatever the enemy was going to do besides had Kolivan even contacted the castle to let them know what had happened? Would the leader of the Blades even try? Would he even be able to see his former team again? Those were answers that Keith didn’t have, answers that had to wait since it was unknown on if Voltron or if the Blades were going to come for him.

Keith had a feeling that they weren’t, a feeling that he didn’t like at all. He wanted this feeling to go away while trying to stay calm since panicking wasn’t going to help. Panicking would make things ten times worse and difficult for him to focus of anything. With a small breath, his head slumped back against the wall closing his eyes with an unreadable expression on his face. Keith didn’t know what to do, the only thing that could be done was to wait. Sit here and wait for help to come for him.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

A tired groan escaped from Shiro as Allura’s familiar voice came over the coms of the castle, the tone that she had was a bit worrisome though

“Paladins come to the bridge, Kolivan has something to tell us.”

Hearing Kolivan’s name, his thoughts drifted toward Keith all of a sudden. He hoped that the news wasn’t going to be bad news though, Shiro probably wouldn’t be able to take it if something had happened to Keith. Their bond was a strong one, a bond that would be difficult to break. Things had been a bit difficult since the other had left to go deal with another mission for the Blades, an empty bed was the one thing that Shiro had been dealing with a lot lately. Especially after the nightmares, Keith wasn’t there to help reassure him that everything was okay. To reassure him that it was just a dream and that he was safe here. He hated every second of it, he hoped that Keith would come back soon and the bed wouldn’t be cold and empty anymore. Waiting was all that Shiro could do though, waiting until he could see those beautiful eyes he fell in love with. Eyes that he never got tired of looking into. Hopefully, he could look into those eyes soon though, he wanted to feel that familiar warmth resting in his arms again.

It didn’t take long for the older paladin to reach the bridge of the ship where the team was waiting while Kolivan was seen on the open link with an unreadable look on his face. A look that had been seen many times before, it seemed like he was trying to keep that unreadable face because of the news that was about to be given

“Thank you for coming paladins. I have news about the recent mission, we were able to gather the intel, but a member was caught by the Galra....”

There was a pause like Kolivan didn’t know how to continue because of the reactions that would come from the team

“The one that was captured was Keith... an attempt was made to try and free him, but that failed. I’m sorry, Paladins.”

No one knew what to say because of the news that they were just given. News about Keith’s capture and the unknown about what he was facing. Shiro wasn’t going to sit around and wait though, he was going to free the missing raven from the Galra. He didn’t want what he went through to happen to Keith, it had been hard on Shiro and who knows how he would be treated on that ship.

The team did agree that they were going to get Keith off that ship, but the ship needed to be found first. It wasn’t going to be easy because of how large the universe was though. Glancing up at Kolivan, Shiro tried to let out a calming breath

“Keep an eye out for the ship, we’ll find a way to get him back.”

Glancing back at the team at the link had been disconnected, they moved to start working to see if the ship could be tracked down. To see if they could get Keith back home safely. For his sake and for Shiro’s.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

The sound of the whooshing door grabbed Keith’s attention as two guards came into the room. Smirks were resting across their face though, smirks that he didn’t like staring at because of what possibly could be happening next. Meeting Haggar and the Druids face to face. The shackles were released from the wall before Keith was dragged out of the cell to where the Druids would be waiting for him. The struggle was useless because of the tight hold that was wrapped around his arms and the gun resting against his back, it served as a reminder that it was going to be difficult to escape from the guards. It was unknown on if Keith was going to get the chance to escape from the ones who were holding him prisoner. Would he go through the same thing that Shiro went through? Those were a few of the many thoughts that were running through Keith’s head. Thoughts that probably weren’t going to happen anytime soon. 

An unfamiliar door soon appeared in front of Keith, one that he had never seen before. Was this where Haggar’s experiments happened? He was about to find out. The door opened with a whoosh revealing the ones who were standing behind it, Haggar was there with the druids that followed the witch. Violet eyes glared at the group before he was dragged into into the room as her voice filled his ears

“Strap him to the table.”

That was when Keith started to struggle against the tight grip, but it wasn’t going to let him go that easily. A small twist of his arm caused the struggling to stop because of how much it hurt while the glaring continued, he refused to show that he was weak in front of them. Showing weakness was the worst thing to do in front of the Galra especially with the Druids. The cold metal soon rested underneath Keith’s back as coldness were placed around his wrists and ankles. Haggar soon appeared in his line of vision with a smile on her face

“Let’s begin.”

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

The bridge was quiet once more as Shiro was looking over the intel that had been given to them. Intel that hopefully would lead them to where Keith was at, the search hadn’t been going well though. It was like the ship was trying to keep itself hidden, how hard could it be to find Zarkon’s ship? It was frustrating to the point where Shiro wanted to throw something across the room. He hated this, hated it that he couldn’t find Keith. He just wanted to get him home. Wanted him to come home back safe. 

A small breath did escape Shiro before looking down at the information that was spread out in front of him. He was waiting for more intel to be brought, information to look over with the rest of the team. Pidge and Hunk would be willing to help sort through the intel to see if anything will point to the location of Zarkon’s ship. So far nothing yet, it seemed like the Galra were doing everything to make sure that Keith couldn’t be found. What did the Galra want from him? It did have something to do with the Galran blood that ran through his veins, him being a Blade or a former Paladin? A voice soon broke Shiro’s thoughts though

“Find anything, Shiro?”

Gray eyes glanced back seeing that Pidge had appeared, he gave a shake of his head

“Nothing yet... none of the new intel has helped. It’s like they are trying to keep us from finding him.”

Shiro let out another sigh before flopping down in the chair behind him, his face was buried behind his hand as troubled thoughts ran through his head. Thoughts that were concerned with Keith and the frustration of trying to find Zarkon’s ship. Hopefully things would change eventually though, they needed answers soon. They needed answers fast since it was unknown on what the Galra were doing to Keith and how long he could last.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

A small smile was across Haggar’s face while watching the one who was strapped to the table, murmurs were escaping them as they were stuck in the illusion that loomed over Keith’s head

“No... Stop it... S... Shiro.”

Visions of the team were running through Keith’s head as the words and looks on their faces were making it ten times worse for him. Seeing Shiro was the worse though.

_ Keith was staring at the familiar faces of his teammates, the look on their faces was the one thing that scared him the most. Looks that he never thought he would see again, it seemed that the team made a decision. A decision that dealt with him. The tension that loomed in the air was causing Keith to shy away from them, he didn’t like the tension that was being thrown at them. He hated it, he wanted to get away from the tension, but there was no escape _

_ “Guys...? What’s wrong?” _

_ The words that were thrown at him next threw the raven for a whirl _

_ “It’s you, Keith. You’re the problem, you’ve always been the problem since the start of this war.” _

_ Keith didn’t know what suddenly brought this on, what suddenly caused the hate from the team that was a family to him. The only family that he had, the only family that he ever knew. They had never treated him like this, he didn’t know what to do. _

_ The words were thrown at him weren’t helping either, words that he never thought that he would hear from the team. _

_ “You’re just like the Galra... You ruin everything that you touch... The blood that runs through your veins are tainted...” _

_ Shiro appeared in front of Keith like he was defending him from the words that were being thrown at him _

_ “Shiro?” _

_ There was tension in Shiro’s back as he turned to face Keith with a cold and fierce look in those grey eyes that the raven had fallen in love in. A look that froze Keith right in his tracks, he wanted to run and hide even more now. This wasn’t the Shiro that he knew and loved _

_ “K... Kashi? _ ”

_ Keith thought that Shiro was going to defend him, but obviously that was wrong. The glare was filled with hate and coldness, a look that he would never get from the one that he had fallen in love with _

_ “Leave, I don’t want to see your face again. You’re the enemy” _

_ Opening his mouth, he was about to counter against Shiro’s words despite the stinging pain that was felt deep in his chest. The stinging pain from being hurt by the one who loved him. He didn’t get the chance to say anything though because the familiar glow of Shiro’s arm caught his attention causing Keith to move out of the way. Or try to at least. _

_ Before the Galran arm had a chance to touch Keith though, everything suddenly faded away like a fleeting memory. _

Keith gasped awake as the blaring purple light loomed over his head still, it was enough to give him a headache. He wanted it to go away while the feeling of panic was felt deep in his chest along with the heaving breaths that continued to escape him. The room was confusing, the unfamiliar voices were confusing as the only thing that could be focused on was the terrible dream that he had. A terrible dream that wasn’t going to leave his thoughts anytime soon, A sudden heaviness loomed over his head though as a voice entered his ears

“Take him back to his cell, we will continue the experiments in a few hours.”

Everything faded away for Keith afterwards as the last thing he saw was the blaring purple light looming over his head and the shadowed figures of the Druids.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Keith had lost track of time as time started to bleed into one another, it was hard to tell how much time had passed. Exhaustion loomed over his head while the experiments were causing confusion for him, he couldn’t tell the difference between the memories and the visions anymore. What was reality anymore. Sleep was difficult also, he couldn’t rest easy in this place because of the experiments and being stuck in that cell for long hours of the day. The visions were making everything worse, they were becoming nightmares which was causing him to feel the terrible effects of sleep deprivation. It was difficult to focus mixed in with the fatigue and how everything seemed to be bleeding into one another. Everything was just so confusing to him while the one thing that he seemed to remember the most were the glowing purple lights that loomed over his head. He refused to give away anything even when the Druids tried to get information out of him. Despite the dazed feeling, he kept his lips sealed to avoid from spilling any information that would give the large empire an advantage over Voltron. 

At the whoosh of the door, exhausted eyes glanced over seeing that the Galran soldiers came back to drag him off to the hands of the Druids once more. Keith gave them an exhausted glare knowing what was coming next, they were going to take him to Haggar once again. Forcing him to go through the experiments again, forcing him to dream those terrible visions that were starting to break him down. Visions that he just wanted to end and disappear into thin air.

Feeling the hands grab ahold of his arms once more, the raven got taken out of the room that he had been stuck in for such a long time. He just wanted out, but that wasn’t going to work out in his favor that easily. Hopefully, there would be a chance to escape from this place soon if Keith could clear his head to come up with an actual plan.

Waiting obviously wasn’t going to get him anywhere...

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

The intel that had been gathered finally gave the answers that the team needed about Keith’s location. He was on a random ship that belonged to one of tu General’s while Haggar came with a few of her Druids to try and gather information from him. It was unknown on if they had been successful, but we were going to take this chance to get Keith off that ship before anymore damage could be done. Shiro had a feeling that the Druids were running experiments on him, but they wouldn’t know until the team got on that ship. A plan had been made with help from one of the Blades who were hiding among the crew, they were the reason on why they were able to get the intel about Keith. The rest of the Paladins just needed to get him off that ship before anything else could happen.

Once everything was ready and every detail of the plan was known by the team, they couldn’t afford to fail this rescue mission. Shiro wasn’t going to leave Keith behind, everyone was determined to bring him back home though. Bring him back home safely, he wasn’t going to let the Druids touch him again after this mission was successful. With a small breath, Black left the hanger before heading toward the ship that was holding Keith prisoner.

The large ship soon came into view while we made sure that they hadn’t noticed the lions yet. The team were wanting to sneak onto the ship without being noticed which was why they were going to enter one of the empty hangers quietly. The Blade that gave us the intel would be waiting for then in that hanger since it would be their best escape route once they had Keith. The hanger door opened allowing them to land the lions as the Blade was the one who had opened the door to let the team in. Leaving the cockpit, Shiro headed over to the Blade

“Thanks for helping us, do you know where Keith is being held?”

The Blade nodded “He’s not in his cell right now, the Druids have him again. I will send the path to the room, the room will have two sentries standing in front of it. Hagger doesn’t want anyone except for her and the Druids in there.”

With the directions to the room in our possession, Shiro started to make his way down the hall toward the room were the experiments were taking place. The Black Paladin wanted to get there before anything else would happen to Keith because of the memories that he had about the Druids. Memories that would follow Shiro around for the rest of his life, memories that weren’t going to go away that easily even with time. Hallway after hallway passed the team by before they soon arrived at the door that was holding Keith prisoner from the outside world, they couldn’t make a move just yet. Gray eyes glanced around to make sure that nothing else was around besides the two sentries that stood outside of the door, they needed to take them out before their presence was alerted to the rest of the ship. Glancing back at the rest of the team, Shiro nodded

“On three, Lance. You know what to do.”

Lance nodded before the sentries were taken out while Pidge worked on cutting power in the room that would hopefully give them an advantage to get Keith out of there if the ones behind that door didn’t strike first. The door opened after the power was cut revealing the scene to them, Keith was laying on the table unconscious with Haggar leaning over him. Gritting his teeth, the fight started once Shiro made the first move as the rest of the team moved to distract the Druids before they would even have a chance to get Keith off of the table that he was held prisoner on.

Bolts of magic filled the air as the Paladins moved into action to get to Keith safely despite the threats that were surrounding them. Shiro took that chance to free Keith from the table resting him against his chest while keeping his protective hold about him before moving to duck down behind the table to avoid another attack of magic. He couldn’t risk getting injured for Keith’s sake since that was going to make things a lot more harder to free the one who had been captured by the Galra. Waiting for his chance a small nod from Pidge, Shiro shifted his hold on the unconscious raven before bolting toward the door as quickly as possible, they needed to get out of the room and off the ship before anyone else would stop them in their tracks. The door closed behind him as Shiro let out a breath of relief resting against the wall for a moment feeling Keith’s weight resting against his chest. Glancing up at the rest of the team, he moved to stand up knowing that they needed to get out of here before they would be captured by the ones that were crawling over this ship. Get out of here safely and get Keith back to the castle for the recovery that the raven needed because of the unknown state that he was in.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Keith was soon resting in the room that once belonged to him before he left to join the Blades, Coran reassured everyone that he was going to be okay after getting plenty of rest because of how exhausted the raven was. It probably would be a bit of time before Keith would be up on his feet, time that they were willing to give him since it was needed. Kolivan had already been contacted though to tell the news about Keith even though Shiro wasn’t too happy with them at the moment. Something that he expressed clearly on his face during the entire talk with Kolivan before the video feed was cut, his main focus for now was to make sure that Keith got plenty of rest during his recovery. It wasn’t an easy rest though.

Nightmares came and went while Shiro soothed him the entire time which did help especially when the nightmares were pretty bad, he was able to stop the nightmares once Keith relaxed in his sleep. It was unknown on when Keith was going to wake up, but Shiro stayed by his side as much as possible to be there for when those violet eyes decided to finally open. He hoped that they were going to open soon since it had been a few days since they returned to the castle, the team decided that it was best to leave Keith in Shiro’s hands because of the bond that the two of them had. It would be difficult to separate them anyways, everyone knew that. Besides Shiro was too stubborn to leave the raven alone even when he needed to rest, he would sleep next to Keith since the older Paladin didn’t want to leave him alone. Especially with the terrible nightmares that had a bad habit of showing up at the moment, nightmares that never seemed to end.

Another day passed before Keith soon started to stir awake feeling the warmth resting against his back, it was different from when he was laying on the cold floor that that Galran cell. A coldness that he never wanted to feel again, it was a relief against his skin though to feel the warmth that was surrounding him. Warmth gripped at his hand next as a low voice entered his ears

“Keith...? Babe, you awake?”

Eyes flickered slightly before they did flutter open revealing Shiro to him who had a relieved look on his face

“Hey, I’m glad you’re awake.”

Violet eyes scanned the room for a second trying to get his bearings and figure out where he was at, the room was familiar to him. He was back at the castle, he wasn’t on that ship anymore.

“Keith?”

There was a small tremble even though Keith was trying to hide it, but Shiro could feel it and the panic that was in his eyes. A panic that he was familiar with, Keith was afraid. Not that Shiro could blame him, he had every right to be afraid

“It’s okay, you’re safe here. I promise you.”

It was a bit difficult for Keith to believe that because of the fresh memories that dealt with the experiments he was forced to go through, the visions seemed so real to him though. Gripping at Shiro’s hand, he nodded before tugging at his hand, wanting the other to lay down with him. A light smile graced the Black Paladin’s lips who crawled into the bed with the frightened raven, he was willing to give any comfort that was needed to reassure the former paladin. Once Shiro was settled into the bed, Keith’s head rested against his chest before clinging to the shirt feeling the comforting warmth. It was the one thing that he needed right now, the older Paladin would make sure to stay as long as possible. He wasn’t going to leave him anytime soon not until Keith was better and able to feel safe on this castle once again.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Allura had called Shiro to the bridge to help with a few matters that needed his attention, mostly to discuss a few things with the allies that that they. He made sure that Keith was still asleep leaving Lance in the room to watch over him until he returned from the meeting with the allies. Shiro was going to return as fast as possible knowing that Keith was still a bit too jumpy for his liking, he knew that it was going to take a bit of time before the issues from the trauma would disappear. Time was the one thing that Keith needed right now which was why he wouldn’t be heading out on missions anytime soon, it was obvious to Shiro about how difficult it was for him. The entire team understood that, the events that he went through obviously were very traumatic for him. It was something that Keith would need to talk about once he was ready to, pushing him to talk would be the worst thing possible. It would cause Keith to pull away and hide behind those walls of his once again, something that Shiro didn’t want to happen. 

The meeting had going pretty well for the most part that was until Lance’s panicked voice came over the coms

“Shiro! Come back to the room, Keith is panicking!”

The moment that he heard those words, Shiro moved to bolt toward the room as quickly as possible. He needed to get there before anything else could happen, he needed to be there for Keith’s sake. The room soon came into view as he could hear Lance’s voice coming from the otherside of the door

“It’s okay, Keith. Shiro is on his way, he’ll be here soon.” 

Making his way through the door, concerned eyes landed on Keith’s huddled form who was trying to hide as much as possible. Shiro moved carefully to avoid from scaring the frightened raven even more

“Ssh... It’s okay, Keith. I’m here, I’m here.”

Violet eyes glanced up at the familiar voice to him, the one that he wanted to be with right now. Fear was in his eyes, something that Shiro never thought he would of seen because of the strength that Keith had. It looked liked the strength had been taken out of him, he looked broken. The moment that his weight landed on the bed, Keith moved to cling to him with his hand grasping at the fabric of his shirt tightly before the tears started to fall. Fingers made their way through Keith’s hair while a tight safe hold was resting around him, a hold that was comforting to him. Shiro’s familiar presence and touch was something that Keith needed, it was the main reason why the raven was clinging to him like this. He didn’t want anyone else at the moment, that was why Lance left the room to give them space knowing that it was needed for a little while.

Keith stayed resting against the warm chest hearing the comforting heartbeat and the soothing voice that loomed over his head. The soothing words and touch was helping though as his heaving chest started to slow down, his breathing turning back to normal slowly. Shiro continued to talk to him giving the comfort that was needed, he was going to stay for as long as Keith wanted there. The one thing that Shiro wanted was for him to sleep knowing that he would be exhausted once he finally calmed down from the intense panic attack he had. Something that they both didn’t want to have happen again, but there was a high chance that it would happen again.

Shiro was going to be there for him and make sure that Keith would get through this trauma with the help from him and the rest of the team. Even if it was going to take a bit for Keith to trust them again.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I hope that you all have enjoyed reading day 6 of Sheith angst week! Sorry for the delay and how long it took me to get it out. I wanted to try a new writing style which was the main reason on why it took this long, I've been wanting to get out of writing in POV style so time to practice writing in third person. 
> 
> But it would be great if you guys would list your opinions and some critique about this one-shot! Ways to improve, etc would help me! I hope that you enjoy reading though!


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